Saber Tooth Extra: Get That Mask!
by Madam Facilier
Summary: After a carefully planned attempt is unwittingly foiled, Sting swears on his title as the guild master of Saber Tooth to do whatever it takes to discover just what—and why—the resident ninja Dobengal hides under his mask. Luckily Sting's not alone on this endeavor. Surely nothing could go wrong! (Except it did.)
1. Prelude to Shenanigans

**Hello, universe! College has started back up, my thought process for my works in progress are still on vacation, yet here I am with another new story! Basically I think I'm trying to kickstart my creative writing process back to life, so this could probably be considered a writing exercise for me.**

**Oh well! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Sting was on a warpath.

…is what he would've liked to say to describe just how frustrated he was. But pacing the floor back in forth in front of a blackboard in the common area of the top floor of the guild didn't really fit the expression.

Sting couldn't help it though. He had known everything—_planned_ everything with that knowledge, from wake-up time to job hunting to even the second the man would seek his approval to take said job. From there, Sting brought his subordinate out to that crepe stand at a time when hardly anyone would be around for good measure. It was going to be a perfectly normal morning between a guild master and his friend eating crepes before a job while Lector would be hidden with a camera nearby.

Everything was going according to plan…but then a certain bastard decided to blast it to smithereens.

Clearly Sting had every right to be pissed off!

"Right, so what do we know about our resident recluse?" Sting asked.

"No one's ever seen him eat at the guild," Lector supplied. Sting stopped dramatically before the board to scrawl 'NEVER EATS'. "And he wore that mask when we had that pool party, too." 'EVEN SWIMMING' quickly found its place on the board as well.

"And whatever he's hiding made the shop girl go lovey-dovey," Orga snorted. At this, Sting wrote '**_APPARENTLY_ **HOT' and furiously underlined it three times. "Jealous much, Sting?"

"I had it all worked out." Sting kept his back to his audience as he held up the chalk with a shaking hand. "I was going to be the first to solve the biggest mystery in this guild—" The White Dragon Slayer whirled on the spot and brandished the chalk at Orga like he was holding a knife. "And you just had to ruin it all, damn it!"

"How the hell was I supposed to know you were going to be in way when the wagon rolled down the road?!" Orga defended.

"We wouldn't be having this problem if you hadn't leaned against it in the first place!" Sting screamed, throwing the chalk at Orga.

In retaliation Orga sent a spark of black lightning at Sting, who ducked and the spell made the blackboard spin between its reverse side and the side he'd been writing on. Sting immediately charged, tackling Orga to the ground as the two were lost in a cloud of smoke and lightning.

Before they knew it, the two were pulled apart from each other and left to dangle as a familiar spiral of magic held them by their ankles. "I wondered why it was so loud out here," Minerva chided as she approached the men. Behind her, Rogue and Frosch came out of their dorm while Rufus surveyed the scene. "I don't suppose the children want to explain why they were fighting?"

Sting and Orga immediately pointed at each other. "He started it!" They both exclaimed.

Minerva closed her eyes and simply sighed. "Typical children."

"What were you doing, Sting?" Rogue stopped at the blackboard as it spun back onto the side Sting had written on. "And who's 'apparently hot'?" he read aloud.

"Evidently someone _very_ attractive if the emphasis is anything to go by," Rufus chuckled, pointing to the three lines Sting had drawn.

"Fro thinks so too."

Sting and Orga grunted as Minerva dropped them in favor of examining the blackboard. "Was the argument over a woman, by any chance?"

"Of course not!" Orga yelled.

"I should hope so, especially not over a woman who never eats," Minerva remarked as she read the top line, "which is incredibly concerning."

"It's not a woman, it's one of our own members." Sting pulled himself to his feet and brushed himself off. "I mean, we see him almost everyday and hasn't anyone ever wondered about it?"

"About what?" Rogue asked.

"Come on, it's the greatest mystery of all!" Lector added.

"Would you like to give more details then?" Rufus inquired curiously.

"Or maybe cut to the chase?" Minerva drawled.

"Fro thinks so too!"

"You all know what it is!" Sting spun the blackboard before he stopped it on its reverse, which displayed a head with the lower half of its face drawn over and question marks surrounding it. "I'm talking about whatever the hell's under Dobengal's mask!"


	2. Breakfast

**15 Hours Earlier**

"Sting-kun!" Lector shook his best friend, who rolled over in bed. "Sting-kun, get up!" The Exceed hissed as quietly as he could. "You said today's the day!"

"...five more minutes…" Sting mumbled.

"That's what you said five minutes ago! Ten and twenty, too!" Lector huffed impatiently. "He's going to wake up soon!"

"What?" The young master of Saber Tooth sat up in bed squinting and cursing the lack of sunlight. Sure, as the guild master he had to wake up early to fulfill some obligations before everyone started waking up or coming in. But that didn't mean Sting woke up everyday right before the butt-crack of dawn, when hardly anybody sane would be remotely awake!

Despite the unholy hour Sting woke up to, now wasn't the time to fall back into his bed's warm embrace. He had a plan to carry out and only a limited window of time to do it. And with the first light of the sun creeping in, that window was starting to become too narrow for comfort.

"You got the camera, Lector?" Sting asked as he ran to his closet, where his outfit was already laid out for a quick change.

Lector flew over to the closet holding a camera by the strap. "Got it, Sting-kun!"

"Enough film on the roll?"

"I got a new roll for good measure!"

"Nice!" Sting shoved the curtain aside as he fixed his outfit. "Then let's—"

"You forgot your wallet!" Lector cried just before Sting put a hand on the doorknob.

"Thanks, Lector!" Sting rushed back to his nightstand, where his wallet would have sat to make Sting look like a broke fool first thing in the morning. "Wallet?"

"Check."

"Camera?"

"Check."

"Time?"

"Right pocket." Sting immediately dug through his right pants pocket for the watch Lector stashed in there.

"Any minute now, Lector!" The two hurried out of their dorm and locked it. Once Sting had that done, he tiptoed over to one of the eleven doors on the top floor where the top ten mages resided. Sting listened carefully for any sounds from the occupant inside.

Finally Sting heard the sound of a blanket being pushed aside along with a yawn. The White Dragon Slayer grinned as soon as feet hit the floor. "Let's book it, Lector!"

"I'll take us down!" Sting caught the camera while Lector activated his wings and grabbed onto Sting's back. Together the two flew past the lower levels of the guild, which Jiemma had built back then to keep all of Saber Tooth's mages under his watch. Ever since Sting took over, everyone got to choose whether they wanted to keep living inside or take up residence outside. That choice was good and all, but it did nothing to change the fact that there were too many floors to begin with!

As soon as they reached the ground floor, Lector let go of Sting, who went for the stack of job requests he had stashed under the bar last night. "Help me with the jobs, Lector?"

"I'm on it, Sting-kun!" Lector flew over with a cup of coffee right as the doors opened for Yukino to come in.

"Morning, Yukino!" Sting greeted while Lector set the coffee down for him before flying to the request board to put the jobs up.

"Sting-sama! You're up early!" Yukino cried in surprise.

"Am I seeing things?" A new voice rang from the top of the stairs. "Or is our master actually up with the sun for a change?"

Sting had to tone down the wide grin on his face when he heard the voice before he turned around to see the only other person who woke up at this hour. "Morning to you too, Dobengal!"

"I'd ask what the occasion is, but this makes my morning easier," the ninja said, walking over to the request board. As soon as he found one that caught his interest, he turned around to show Sting the request he picked out. "I'll head out with your approval, Sting."

"You're not going wait for breakfast?" Yukino asked.

"I'll grab something to eat on my way."

Sting raised a doubtful eyebrow. The Dragon Slayer had learned a few things about the ninja from several days of observation, like what time he woke up to how often he came back to the guild late at night. But this one was the real kicker. "Now how many times have I heard that before?"

"Sting?"

"Right before you leave every day, you never smell like you had anything to eat, Dobengal," Sting continued, staring down the ninja while Yukino looked worriedly between the two. "And every time, you give that same excuse."

Dobengal looked off to the side while his eyes narrowed in annoyance. "That's nothing for you to worry about, Sting," he rebuffed.

"Isn't it?" Sting chided, approaching the ninja to pluck the job request out of his grasp. "Then why don't we talk about your eating habits over crepes, _Dobenii?_"

"What—?" Sting grabbed Dobengal by the arm and dragged him out of the guild. "Sting, what are you doing?"

"Getting you a decent breakfast! Otherwise I'm not gonna let you go on a job!"

* * *

"Well this is new. The guild master is treating me to breakfast?" Dobengal looked up as though he expected something to fall from the sky. "What's next, rain?" he guessed.

_It just so happened that a rain cloud appeared overhead and started pouring down specifically on the ninja. Thunder roared as rain turned to hail and buried the man in ice pellets. "Lector, we got him!" Sting cheered, waving to his friend in the bushes._

"Well, Sting?" The White Dragon Slayer was pulled out of his imagination by Dobengal, who looked at him expectantly and jerked his head towards the crepe stand girl. Sting realized it was his turn to order a crepe for himself. Once that was done, they were left to wait as the smell of the thin pancakes wafted through the air. "This stand always has a line whenever I pass by," Dobengal admitted.

"Lucky for us, we beat the crowd," Sting said, quickly glancing at the bushes, where Lector had hidden himself with the camera.

_The shop girl returned to the front of the booth with their crepes. As soon as Dobengal grabbed his, the crepe promptly exploded and left his clothes in an absolute mess. "Lector, we got him!" Sting called._

"Sting?" Fingers snapped in front of his eyes, causing Sting to startle and look up. The crepe stand girl and Dobengal stared at him, each holding a crepe. As Sting reached for his own, he silently thanked whatever power at work that the ninja hadn't eaten his already. "So this must be why you don't wake up early," Dobengal noted dryly.

"Stuff a crepe in it, Dobengal," Sting retorted, biting into his. The ninja shrugged nonchalantly and put a finger under his mask, preparing to lower it. Sting tried not to look too obvious as he stared sideways at the man.

Without warning, all Sting could hear were the sounds of yelling and rolling wheels. Keeping one eye on Dobengal, Sting looked towards the source of the sound, only to jolt in horror as a wagon hurtled towards them. Stuffing the rest of his breakfast into his mouth, Sting sprang into action and threw himself against the wagon, digging his boots into the road in an effort to slow down the carriage. Sting felt his boot touch the front of the crepe stand as the wagon came to a halt.

"Thanks for breakfast, Sting," said a voice to his right. Much to Sting's shock, Dobengal's mask was on and the crepe was gone, replaced by a handkerchief that he used to wipe his mouth. "Now about your end of the bargain."

"Wait a minute—you were eating while I stopped the wagon on my own?!" Sting screamed.

"Orga was on the other side helping you," Dobengal defended, unfolding a familiar flyer that had Sting's hands immediately fly towards the pocket where he'd kept it.

On cue, Orga poked his head out from the other side of the carriage. "You guys all right?"

Sting shook in anger as Dobengal walked away from the scene, blissfully ignorant of all the planning Sting put into this very morning. "...you mind telling me what the hell happened, Orga buddy?"

"I just leaned against the wagon when I got back into town," Orga explained, coming around to join Sting. "One minute it's rolling down the road and the next thing I know, you and the crepe stand showed up out of nowhere!"

Sting stomped the heel of his boot onto Orga's foot, making the larger man yell in pain. "Damn it, Orga! _I had him!_ I had him! I was going to be the first to see the ninja's freaking face and you ruined it!" Sting screamed.

"Sting-kun!"

"How was I supposed to know that of all the days you got your ass up early for once, you were going to unmask the midget?!"

"Guys, look!" Lector interrupted, pointing to the crepe stand. Sting and Orga ceased bickering and looked at the stand. The girl who ran it had was flushed pink as she leaned out of the stand to stare after the ninja in the distance, eventually falling out of the stand. Before any of them could offer help, she stood back up and sighed as hearts replaced her eyes.

Sting, Lector, and Orga stared dumbstruck after Dobengal, then at the shop girl before they finally looked at each other. "Okay—now I'm _really_ curious!" The three declared.

* * *

**Present**

"And that's the reason for the blackboard you're seeing," Lector sighed sadly.

"It was all because of Orga!" Sting yelled.

"It does seem that I have no memories of Dobengal with his mask removed," Rufus noted as Orga and Sting fought in the background. "But surely you must have some kind of photographic evidence. I recall that you had a camera for this plan."

Lector slumped in shame as he handed Rufus a brown envelope he produced from his vest. "I really tried," Lector mumbled as Minerva and Rogue—joined by Frosch at his shoulder—gathered around the Memory-Make wizard to examine the photos together.

The first picture was taken as Sting and Dobengal received their crepes that morning. The second seemed to show the moment Sting noticed the wagon Orga unwittingly rolled in their direction, given by his panicked expression while the ninja had a finger under his mask as he prepared to lower it to eat. Unfortunately the third picture was the result of Lector trying to find a better angle after his original position was compromised: an overhead shot of the crepe stand where Dobengal remained while Sting had to stop the wagon from destroying the booth,

The wizards of Saber Tooth raised their eyebrows in unison at the next picture, which showed Dobengal with his mask on and a handkerchief in hand while the shop girl had a noticeable blush on her face. The last picture wouldn't have been significant if not for the shop girl leaning out of the booth with hearts in her eyes. "Are you sure the girl wasn't infatuated by 'The Great Sting' saving her from a runaway wagon?" Minerva asked.

"No," Orga grunted, standing up while Sting tried to choke him with his legs crossed around the Lightning God Slayer's neck. "We definitely saw the shop girl making goo-goo eyes at Dobengal as he left."

"'Apparently hot' indeed," Rogue remarked with a glance at the third statement Sting had written in large jagged letters. "You seem to have made good progress, Sting. Don't let me stop you."

This made Sting release his hold on Orga's neck and fall off the man's shoulders in shock. "What?!" Sting exclaimed as he pulled himself up.

"Fro agrees!" Frosch followed after Rogue as they began to return to their dorm.

"Come on, Rogue! You're supposed to have my back!" Sting cried. "Don't you wanna know if the guy has a scar under there?"

At this Rogue stopped mid-step while Rufus and Minerva considered the possibility. "Too obvious," Minerva drawled.

"It's regrettable but a scar hardly has any originality," Rufus agreed.

"Fro thinks so too!"

"Oh, _I'm sorry!_ Is a scar not a good enough reason?" Sting challenged. "Then what do you prefer? _Freckles_?"

Rogue's ears twitched as he slowly turned to look at Sting, eyes widened by curiosity. Rufus held his chin thoughtfully while Orga looked like he was inwardly laughing at whatever mental image he produced. Even Minerva looked intrigued and it was enough to make one of Sting's eyebrows twitch. "Really? All I needed to say was that he might have _freckles_?" he sneered.

"A scar is too predictable," Minerva said, "but freckles are simple enough that one wouldn't even look twice for them."

"I must say that the possibility is what makes the mystery," Rufus noted. "Though a well-planned strategy will be needed for this endeavor."

"..." It started as a small laugh before Sting cackled madly, surprising the wizards in the commons. "You think I tailed the guy and woke up at dawn for days all for one plan? You think all I had was one trick in my gloves? Of course not, Rufus. I've got way more planned to get that mask!"

"After your first attempt, we can already tell that they'll _clearly_ work out," Minerva dismissed.

"Like you guys already have something planned!" Sting barked. "You weren't even interested in the ninja's face until a minute ago!"

"That may be, but you certainly piqued our interest," Rufus pointed out. "Joining forces will grant us a better chance of success."

"...If we do it all together, the midget will know what we're up to," Orga finally said. "Whatever we do, it's gotta be one person at a time."

"Fro thinks so too!"

"So what's the plan now, Sting?" Rogue asked.

"My next plan? It's very simple." Sting rubbed his hands together as he turned to the others with a mischievous glint to his eyes. "You're going to tail him, Rogue."


	3. Tailing

Rogue raised a doubtful eyebrow, joined by the other three members of Saber Tooth's top five. "Tail him? That's the best you can come up with?"

"Fro thinks so too!" Frosch said.

"Well, _excuse me_ if it's too simple for you, Rogue!" Sting snarled. "Let me get you your disguise! I'm sure Dobenii's not gonna notice a clown stalking him anytime soon!"

Orga shook visibly and grimaced at the mental image Sting conjured. "I do believe that was the premise of a well-known horror novel," Rufus remarked.

"Yeah, and Rogue's gonna get his neck sliced," Orga warned.

"What Sting planned is for Rogue to follow Dobengal in his shadow," Lector explained. "Before today, Sting and I only managed to follow him so far before he caught on and lost us."

"But if Rogue hides in his shadow, Dobengal won't even know he's there," Minerva concluded, an arm folded under her chest while she tapped her cheek. "Certainly Rogue will be able to catch a glimpse of his face at some point."

"But shadow or not, I can't take a picture of his face if I follow him that closely," Rogue pointed out.

Frosch tilted his head in confusion. "Why can't Rogue?"

"We can do this one of two ways, Rogue." Sting drew a stick figure with a heavily shaded shadow and a crude drawing of camera in front of the stick figure. "If you can get as far away from Dobengal when he finally takes his mask off, he shouldn't be able to see you as you take the picture."

"You sound like you don't think it'll work, Sting," Orga noticed.

"I'm getting there!" Sting barked at the God Slayer. "If that plan _somehow_ fails—" He stressed this with an annoyed glare at Orga. "—then that's where you come in, Rufus. Once Rogue sees Dobengal's real face, all you have to do is isolate that memory so that we'll finally know whether he's hot or ugly."

"Or if he has freckles!" Frosch chirped.

"Or if he's freckled," Sting conceded.

Rufus considered this plan with a finger curled against his lip. "I must say, I never imagined you would possess this level of hindsight, Sting."

"Don't you mean intelligence?" Minerva offered.

"At least I came up with something!" Sting countered, getting more ticked off by the second. The White Dragon Slayer concocted plans for nearly every scenario he imagined he could get the ninja alone, all ending with the possibility of unmasking the guy. And his own friends had the nerve to doubt his genius!

"To be honest, discussing our plans outside the dorms where anyone can hear us isn't a wise move," Minerva said. "Wouldn't our target have learned of what we have in mind for him?"

"Nah." Sting shook his head. "Dobengal went on a quick job this morning, so he won't be back until tomorrow or—"

The guild master of Saber Tooth stopped talking as he tilted an ear upwards. The other mages in the common area regarded Sting oddly as he headed towards one of the dorms, standing just a foot away from the door. "Rogue, you hear anything?" Orga questioned.

Much like Sting was doing, Rogue tilted an ear towards the White Dragon Slayer's direction. It was faint, but he could make out the sound of someone closing a set of doors. "He's home," Sting finally answered, rushing for the blackboard and clearing it frantically.

"The main doors to the guild are locked by this time," Rogue admitted, looking towards a set of doors that led to a stone balcony on the top floor. "Though I don't understand why he didn't use the balcony doors."

"Dobengal's room comes with a balcony," Sting said, smacking the chalkboard eraser against the board once he finished clearing everything that was on there. "Since he can't use magic to teleport directly in once the main doors lock, he made a key for his balcony in case he comes home late."

"I can't believe he got one of the best rooms on the floor," Orga grumbled.

"Fro thinks so too!"

"Well, I'm calling it a night!" Sting announced, dusting off his hands as he followed Lector back to their dorm. "Oh, Rogue!" The White Dragon Slayer stopped with a hand on his doorknob and turned to his shadow counterpart. "Dobengal gets up at three-thirty or so for some reason before he hits the sack again and wakes back up at dawn."

"What a peculiar sleeping schedule," Rufus noted, "and astounding observation skills, Sting."

"But what does he do at three-thirty in the morning?" Rogue asked.

"And since he just finished a job, he won't pick another one immediately. When that happens, he'll head towards the marketplace in the morning," Sting finished, completely ignoring Rogue. "So make use of that as you will, Rogue!" With that, Sting retreated into his room and shut the door with a loud bang. The rest of Saber Tooth's top five stared at the door that Sting and Lector disappeared behind, each with more questions than they began with.

The door opened as Sting stuck his head back out, this time dressed for bed. "Since you're getting up early, I'll watch Frosch tonight!"

"It'll be a sleepover, Frosch!" Lector cheered, holding a pillow as he floated beside Sting's head.

* * *

When Yukino entered the guild, she was startled to see Rogue seated at the bar with a cup. "Rogue-sama? Why are you up early today?"

"Because somebody has to pick up Sting's _sla-sla_-slack," Rogue yawned widely as he poured some black liquid for himself. He might have been the more responsible of the Twin Dragons, but that didn't mean he woke up with the sun everyday while Sting had the nerve to sleep in. At least Rogue wasn't alone at this hour. Though if Sting's words were anything to go by, the reason Rogue was up so early would be coming down soon.

The only thing that made this whole plan worthwhile was that Rogue would see Dobengal's real face before anybody else. What was under there? A scar—or multiple? Moles or freckles? The possibilities kept Rogue up until midnight and even in sleep he had imagined what he was going to see once the mask came off.

"Rogue-sama?" Rogue nodded before he jolted awake in his seat, greeted by Yukino's worried eyes. "Are you sure you don't want to catch up on sleep?"

Rogue shook his head in an attempt to brush off sleep. "No, I'm fine."

"Well, I asked Dobengal-sama to buy some stronger tea for you before he went to the marketplace—"

At this, Rogue immediately grabbed Yukino by her shoulders. "When? Is he still here?" he asked frantically.

"Rogue-sama, calm down! He just left five minutes—" Without listening to another word, Rogue sped out of the guild. "—ago," Yukino finished dumbstruck.

* * *

Travelling as a shadow brought him to the marketplace in no time, but all Rogue could do was curse himself for dozing off so easily and letting his target escape. Since it was morning, hardly anyone occupied the market streets except for a baker and a few restaurant owners. But the vendors took up two streets and Rogue couldn't find his guild mate on this one.

"Morning, Rogue! Need a new flavor for your morning?" The tea vendor called.

The tea vendor!

"Hey!" The Shadow Dragon Slayer ran up to the stall and slammed his hands on the counter. "Did you meet a ninja this morning?!" Rogue demanded.

The tea vendor recoiled from the counter. "Well look who decided to have coffee today! If by ninja, you mean Dobengal, he just bought some a few minutes before you came along!"

"Where did he go?"

The vendor looked to his left, squinting as he held a hand to his brow. "He would have gone—that way!" He pointed down the road. "Just go straight and you should catch him at the—" Wasting no time, Rogue melted into a shadow and sped off. "What was the point of all that?!" The vendor yelled.

Rogue emerged from his shadow as soon as he reached the end of the road, searching in every direction for the ninja he was supposed to have followed. He couldn't see him anywhere and it wasn't like Gajeel over at the metal smith's stall saw Dobengal—wait, _Gajeel?_

To Rogue's bewildered surprise, Gajeel was indeed inspecting the goods that the metal smith had laid out with a ravenous eye. It didn't come as a surprise that the merchant regarded the Iron Dragon Slayer warily.

"Gajeel!"

The Iron Dragon Slayer looked away from the metal goods only to be confronted by Rogue who shouted in his face,"Have you seen a ninja around here?"

"Oi!" A fist came down on Rogue's head and raised an impressive bump as soon as the last word left his mouth. "Harass a Magic Council officer, why don't ya? Do you want me to arrest your ass, Ryos?" Gajeel growled.

Rogue looked up in confusion. "Magic Council? What do you—?" It was then that Rogue noticed the coat draped over the Iron Dragon Slayer's shoulders, decorated by a familiar ankh of the Magic Council on the arms. "Who in their right mind made you an officer?"

"Now I'm getting lip, huh?" Gajeel grabbed Rogue by the collar and hoisted him off the ground, drawing frightened reactions from the people around them. "Give me one more reason to arrest you right here and now, Rogue," the Iron Dragon Slayer said with a wide grin.

"I don't have time for this!" Rogue removed Gajeel's hand from his collar and landed on his feet. "I need to go after him!" That was all Rogue said before he returned to shadow form and sped off.

"Get back here!" Gajeel booked it after Rogue's shadow and the metal merchant let out an audible sigh of relief. "If he's a criminal, I wanna arrest him!"

Seeing as he kept missing his target by a hair, Rogue had to rely on his nose to find him. All of his senses were enhanced while Rogue was a shadow, so tracking Dobengal would be a piece of—wait, what _did_ he smell like?

Rogue emerged from his shadow, oblivious to the startled cries of the people around while he reconsidered his plan. It seemed the universe was determined to make Rogue fail because apparently, Dobengal didn't have a noticeable smell. Sting wouldn't know either if he had tailed the ninja for days before his cover was blown—except if Sting could figure out the man's sleep schedule, the Dragon Slayer would have had the time to discern a scent while he was at it. "That bastard!" Rogue growled, looking towards the guild hall in the horizon. "When I get back to the guild, I'm going to wring your neck, Sting!"

"You're kidding me. Did you really think you could dye chamomiles pink and call it echinacea?" A thoroughly annoyed voice carried over in the background. Rogue perked up and turned around to see Dobengal several yards away at an herbalist's stall, glaring at a pink flower that he held up to the blanched face of the herbalist. With Dobengal's undivided attention on the merchant, Rogue was able to melt into a shadow and merge with the ninja's unnoticed.

"S-surely you're jesting," the herbalist laughed nervously. Within his shadow, Rogue decided to concentrate on the smell of the flower between Dobengal's fingers, breathing in a calming fragrance that reminded him of the tea Rufus drank before bed. "Dying my herbs? There's no way I could run a business like that."

"Really?" The tone of Dobengal's voice made it clear that he didn't believe a single word. "You're selling crushed coriander seed and allspice as nutmeg, your turmeric is ginger dyed orange, and your marjoram is really oregano." Rogue could practically smell the fear sweating out of the herbalist, indicating that Dobengal had hit his marks. Dobengal walked over to a crate somewhere and picked up a root to snap it in half. There was a long silence before the ninja let out an exasperated huff. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'll take the osha root. You have that right _at least._"

The herbalist sighed in relief. "Y-yes, of course. Five pounds? That's 500,000 Jewels." Rogue would have whistled if he knew it wouldn't give his position away.

The Shadow Dragon Slayer cocked his head in interest when he heard the ninja scoff. Rogue could even hear the sneer in there. "For five pounds, make it 200,000 Jewels." Despite the fact that no one could see him, Rogue's eyebrows rose at the low offer.

The herbalist sputtered at this. "475,000, especially with this grade!"

"220,000, especially with your brains!" Dobengal countered.

"450,000 or I'm packing up!"

"250,000 or see if I care!"

Rogue really wished he had some kind of snack to munch on or even a pillow to muffle his laughter with as he listened to Dobengal and the herbalist haggle and trade threats.

"270,000 if you take that evil spirit with you," came the disturbed voice of the herbalist.

_Evil spirit?_ _Where?_ Rogue only saw the disgruntled herbalist reluctantly trade the roots for roughly half of the original price when Dobengal vanished on the spot, leaving Rogue as a lone shadow on the ground. "It's still here!" the herbalist cried.

Rogue rose out of his shadow and confronted the crooked herbalist. "Do you know where the ninja went?!"

"The spirit is really a demon!" The herbalist cried, eyes rolling back as the man collapsed in a dead faint.

Rogue tried to shake the man awake with no luck. Rogue clicked his tongue and sped away from the stall, searching everywhere for the ninja. It was bad enough when Rogue missed him at the guild, but now he had no idea where the man was.

"Gihihi~There you are!" Rogue barely turned around when an iron club came out of nowhere and hit him on the side of the head. "You're under arrest!"

* * *

The doors to the guild opened as more Saber Tooth mages began to come down the stairs. Sting looked up from the bar and cocked his head when he saw the newcomers. "Weren't you guys part of Fairy Tail? What brings you here?"

Levy McGarden and Panther Lily strode into Saber Tooth, the emblem of the Magic Council printed on both arms of their uniforms drawing hushed murmurs from other mages who had woken up. "We were just in the area and we wanted to say hello!" Levy greeted.

"But we did want to give you a notice," Panther Lily acknowledged, producing a flyer to give to Sting. Lector and Frosch joined the White Dragon Slayer at his shoulder to see that it was a bounty poster of a masked man wanted at 2,000,000 Jewels. "Lately there have been numerous thefts by a thief called Zaiba. What's unusual is that he always sends a notice to his victims one day in advance."

"If he gives his victims a heads-up, wouldn't that make his job harder?" Sting asked.

"In hindsight it would, but the thief managed to hoodwink all of his victims despite their security measures," Levy confessed. "So far there's no other pattern to this thief's methods, not even in his victims, his targets, or the locations."

"It sounds like he's just stealing for the thrill of it," Lector pointed out.

"Fro thinks so too!"

"His recent sighting was last night in the Lupinus Town," Levy said. "We wanted to let you know in case the gentleman thief moves into your—" She was cut off when the doors opened with a loud bang, drawing all eyes to Gajeel strolling in with an unconscious Rogue over his shoulder. "Gajeel?!"

"What happened to Rogue?" Sting exclaimed as Gajeel dropped the Shadow Dragon Slayer unceremoniously into a chair.

"What does it look like? I arrested him!" Gajeel barked, dusting off his hands before he crossed his arms over his puffed chest. "Gihi!"

"Arrested?" Frosch repeated.

"You can't just arrest people whenever you like, Gajeel!" Levy protested. "Only certain actions and behaviors warrant an arrest!"

"Oh yeah?" Gajeel slapped a hand on Rogue's shoulder and the man didn't stir in the slightest. "Stalking, public intoxication, harassment of civilians and officers, disruption of peace, _and_ obstruction of justice! How's that, Shrimp?!"

"You just made those up, didn't you!"

"I'm afraid Gajeel likes to exaggerate charges," Panther Lily explained to Sting and the Saber Tooth Exceed, looking embarrassed.

Lector sweated visibly as he laughed lightly. "You don't say..."

"Fro thinks so too!"

"Who was crazy enough to make Gajeel an officer?" The young guild master asked Panther Lily.

"I heard that, Blondie!" Gajeel barked in Sting's direction.

Panther Lily sighed tiredly. "Gajeel, Levy is right. Do you have legitimate grounds for arresting Rogue?"

"A whole market street's worth! First he screamed into every face he could find—even mine," the Iron Dragon Slayer added with a dirty look at Rogue, "then he's scaring everyone by going around as a disembodied shadow—"

"You'd think the people would be used to it by now," Sting muttered to Lector.

Lector nodded. "Indeed."

"_I'm_ telling the story right now!" Gajeel snapped at the two, only to receive a sharp elbow to his side from Levy. "He ran away from me when I tried to arrest him the first time—"

"The_ first_ time?" Lector repeated doubtfully.

"So where do stalking and public intoxication come in?" Levy asked, placing her hands on her hips.

Sting had the sneaking suspicion he knew what brought on the stalking "charge" but not intoxication. Rogue didn't smell like anything right now except the spice pantry in the kitchens. "Just going off a hunch," Gajeel grumbled, looking away from Levy's disapproving glare. "Rogue was going on about needing to find a ninja, so I figure he got too close to some magic mushrooms."

Sting groaned and slapped a hand to his face at the same time the very man Rogue was accused of stalking came out of the kitchens holding a teapot. "What about magic mushrooms?" Dobengal asked.

"When did you get back?!" Sting yelled.

"There really was a ninja!" Gajeel cried with wide eyes.

"Welcome home!" Frosch greeted.

"...my head..." Rogue woke up and blinked rapidly. "...when did I get back?"

"Just a few minutes ago, buddy," the young guild master explained, his voice oddly calm and higher pitched than usual. Lector grabbed Frosch's paw and led him away from Sting slowly. "Gajeel brought you home—right after he arrested you!" Sting decided the best way to welcome Rogue back was to lunge across the table and sock him in the face, much to the shock of his guests and his guild.


	4. Misfire

On the official document Levy wrote later that day, Gajeel Redfox had briefly detained Rogue Cheney due to suspicious behavior and later released him back to Saber Tooth's custody when his innocence was proven.

In reality, Gajeel had gleefully arrested Rogue and would have been delighted to join Sting in "interrogating" the Shadow Dragon Slayer if only the Captain of the Custody Enforcement Unit hadn't been dragged away kicking and screaming by Panther Lily.

"_One_ nap was all it took to fall behind him?" Rufus inquired curiously.

"I only closed my eyes," Rogue grumbled, nursing the ice pack to the black eye that Sting gave him earlier.

"He's a literal ninja, Rogue!" Sting growled, pacing the floor before the table. Rufus noticed that Sting was starting to develop a habit of it. "Everyone knows that ninjas are sneaky little shits!"

"Fro thinks so too!" Frosch chimed in, poking his fork into his fish lunch.

"So where did you finally catch up to him, Rogue?" Lector asked through a forkful of fish.

"Just as he was tearing into an herbalist selling phony herbs."

"The midget was arguing with an herbalist?" Orga asked.

"Somehow that description doesn't line up with my memories of Dobengal," Rufus commented with a frown.

"Ooh ooh!" Lector quickly pulled his fork out of his mouth and swallowed. "No really, Rufus! You should have seen Dobengal last week with the fake Caelian sea salt merchant!"

Sting let out a sputter before he doubled over in laughter, earning confused looks from his friends. "Caelian sea salt, my foot! That merchant was in tears by the time Dobe-nii was done!" The White Dragon Slayer howled, clutching the table for support.

"When it comes to strength, Sting-kun is by far superior," Lector bragged as he stuck his fork into his fish and lifted a piece, "but Dobengal is the one to look to get your money's worth at the market."

"And he's a gigantic nut for teas," Sting admitted once his laughter died out, straightening up again.

"So he's got a sharp eye, we already knew that," Orga said, putting his feet up on the spare seat next to him.

An evil gleam appeared in Sting's eyes as he chuckled darkly, his back turned to his minions. "We're going to use that to our advantage, and it all starts with you, Orga." Sting whirled around, fangs bared in a wide grin. "You are going to challenge the ninja to—"

* * *

"A shooting contest?" Dobengal repeated, eyes narrowed like he knew what Sting was up to this time. He probably did if, "What's this all about?" was anything to go by.

"This isn't your ordinary shootout!" Sting insisted while Rogue came out of the kitchens with a covered platter in his hands. "You and Orga can't use darts or knives here!"

"What did you just say?!" Orga bellowed while Dobengal looked intrigued by the rule.

"…Go on."

With a familiar evil gleam in his eyes, Sting reached into his back pockets and slapped a deck of cards each into Orga's and Dobengal's hands. "You'll be using these," Sting explained cheerily as he pointed behind the two men, where Rogue set down the platter, "and your target—"

On Sting's cue, Rogue lifted the cover to reveal a watermelon cut in half with its flesh facing the contestants. "—will be _that_," Sting finished.

"You have got to be kidding!" Orga protested.

"Fro thinks so too!"

Dobengal removed one card from the deck, staring intently at the ace that he flipped between his fingers. "…what are the rules?"

"Both of you are going to take turns throwing cards at the watermelon from two meters until you run out," Lector stated, patting the watermelon rind. "Loser has to follow the winner's orders until midnight."

Frosch tilted his head. "Why midnight?"

"The whole deck, though?" Orga complained.

"I'm giving you guys a fair shot here!" Sting defended, looking off to the side. "I mean, I doubt even you could get even one card on the watermelon, Dobe-nii," he added offhandedly.

Sting grinned inwardly as Dobengal narrowed his eyes at the challenge to his marksmanship. With the trap set, they were going to see the ninja's face in no time. "I don't see how this will further our efforts, Sting," Rufus confided as the two contestants opened their respective decks.

"I gave Orga's deck a little boost just in case," Sting hissed back.

Orga was about to remove his silver deck from its box but paused when he noticed writing on the inner flap of the box.

_There are 12 metal sheets sharp  
enough to cut and designed to look  
like cards. Try to "accidentally" hit  
__Dobengal every now and then.  
Make it count!_—Sting

Orga looked back at Sting, nodding in approval whereas Sting gave him a thumbs up. "What did you do?" Rufus asked sharply.

"Orga's deck has several knife cards," Sting explained behind his hand. "All he has to do is throw them at Dobengal and tear that mask off."

"So you told Orga to lose on _purpose_?"

"Not on purpose! There's no way Dobengal's going to hit the watermelon with those!"

All of this went unnoticed by Dobengal, who tried to throw his first card at the watermelon only for it to suspend briefly in the air when he let it go. "That's cute," Orga chortled with a card in hand. "Now watch how the real men do it."

The Lightning God Slayer reeled his arm back like he was throwing a ball and released the card the same way. Unfortunately the card barely traveled three centimeters before it joined the blue card on the floor.

"Well, I hope to never become a real man like you," Dobengal said dryly, holding his hand sideways before he flicked the card out from his fingers. This one actually traveled a good distance before it fell a yard away from the fruit.

The card that Orga reached for dug into flesh, indicating it was one of the blade cards Sting had packed into his deck. "Try saying that again, Midget!" Orga didn't even bother aiming for the fruit, choosing to throw the false card at Dobengal. The ninja ducked as the card soared over his head, landing in somebody's lunch.

"You couldn't make it look like an accident?" Sting muttered under his breath.

The resident Teleportation mage stood back up with his right hand curled inward before he flicked the card to his target. "What are you, a Vulcan? You're supposed to aim for the fruit!" As he finished, a wet sound drew all eyes to the watermelon, which had a blue card sticking out of it.

Rufus turned to Sting with a look of smug annoyance. "No way indeed," he mocked.

"That's one for blue!" Lector announced, drawing a tally under 'Blue' on a blackboard that had been brought out.

"I think the winner's already decided," Rogue said.

"Who cares about the fruit, ninja!" Orga threw another knife card at his opponent, who dodged it at the same time he flicked another card into the watermelon with more ease than his previous attempts.

"Two for blue!" Frosch cheered as Lector marked another point for Dobengal.

"I don't remember Orga being this short-tempered," Rufus trailed off, looking more and more concerned with each card Dobengal successfully threw at the watermelon.

"Blue-nine, silver-one!"

"At this rate, Orga's going to be the loser," Rogue added as the ninja decided to send three cards flying, each striking the watermelon in rapid succession.

"Forget the contest, he totally forgot about the plan!" Sting hissed between his teeth. Were the screeching sounds coming from the platter scraping across the table or from Sting's clenched jaw? "At this rate, he's going to run out of ammo!"

"Fifteen to three for blue!"

"Couldn't you try to make this interesting, Orga? I could drop dead and still hit the melon!"

Rufus' face paled in color while a vein seemed to twitch in Orga's temple. "It seems from the beginning, Dobengal was goading Orga into losing his focus."

"You think?!" Sting barked.

"Then by all means, be my guest!"

The next card Orga threw soared in an arc through the air, slicing the occasional strands of hair it met along its way. At that moment Minerva appeared at the bottom of the stairs, having teleported there with a bag of essentials for her trip. "I'll be going on a mission, Sting. Try to keep the guild in order while I'm—"

_Snip! Thunk!_

"—gone."

Jaws dropped, eyes widened, and silence fell over the guild. All while Minerva stared blankly at the thin blade on the wall that had sliced off one of her braids, now lying limp on the floor.

"Haircut," Frosch mumbled. Lector frantically shushed him in the hopes that Minerva hadn't heard him.

Slowly—eerily so—Minerva turned in Orga's direction with a totally fake smile on her face. "Orga," she sang in a hauntingly sweet tone that would likely haunt the guild's nightmares, "it's not nice to throw things at your friends~"

Orga immediately dropped the deck and held up his hands to defend himself. "I wasn't aiming for you, milady! I was trying to get the ninja!" The Lightning God Slayer shrieked, reaching for Dobengal's shoulders—only to grasp thin air. The Twin Dragon Slayers, Rufus, and Orga all gaped at the space that had been occupied by the resident ninja, who had mysteriously vanished.

The sound of metal singing through the air barely registered until a knife card whizzed past Orga's face and hit the pillar behind him. All eyes went to Minerva, who held all of the knife cards Orga had angrily thrown earlier in a spiral of magic in her hand. "Why don't I show you how to use these properly?" Minerva suggested sweetly.

The terrified screams of Orga were unanswered by the guild, who wisely decided to take cover under whatever surface with space underneath to do so while Minerva exacted her revenge.


	5. Photo Finished

"Traitors," Orga grumbled, his head obscured by the large hand mirror he held up to his face.

"Idiot," Sting muttered back.

Orga's grip on the mirror tightened in response. "Say that again, Sting," he growled, lowering the mirror to reveal the aftermath of Minerva's revenge. Much of his hair was gone, with only an uneven mohawk on top of his head to prove he had any at all.

Sting and Rogue immediately erupted into hysterics at the sight of the Lightning God Slayer. "Now, now, it's unbecoming to laugh at a comrade's…misfortune," Rufus tried to say with a straight face, though he frequently hid his mouth behind his teacup.

Frosch patted the hand that held the mirror. "Fro feels sad."

"…Thanks, Frosch."

"This is troublesome. To think that two of Sting's foolproof plans fell apart," Lector lamented as he crossed off something on a piece of paper he held.

"Fro thinks so too!"

Sting instantly scowled at the reminder of his ruined plans. "It was your _fu_—"

"Language!" Rogue snapped, covering Frosch's ears.

"—reaking fault again, Orga!" Sting finished angrily.

"Well, if a certain Dragon Slayer hadn't loaded my deck, I'd still have my hair!" Orga bellowed, pointing to his scalp.

"If you had just remembered to hit him _accidentally_, we wouldn't be in this mess!" The guild master screamed back.

Rufus frowned as he lowered his tea. "Speaking of the failed contest, will the penalty still apply?" he asked.

"I already lost enough as it is," Orga groaned, laying his near shorn head on the table.

"The game ended early because of Minerva." All of the mages and Exceed at the table shuddered at the memory of the Territory mage's revenge. ""I'm sure Dobenii won't mind that we cancelled the bet," Sting said.

Frosch cocked his head in confusion. "Who's Dobenii?"

"That's what Ansen calls Dobengal," Lector explained.

"Who's Ansen?"

"His cousin in Lamia Scale, Frosch!"

"Ah!" Rufus set his teacup down, eyes lit up by the information. "Surely his own cousin knows what Dobengal looks like without his mask," the Memory-Make wizard reminded.

"Way ahead of you, Rufus." Sting chuckled darkly, clapping his hands together as the familiar evil gleam returned to his eyes. "I asked Ansen to send me a photo of Dobenii without his mask a few days ago." The young guild master continued to cackle to himself, drawing some concern from the other men at the table as Sting rubbed his hands together. "Any day now…"

The letter Sting was anticipating didn't come that day.

* * *

Or the next. Or after that.

Until four days went by and Ansen's letter still hadn't arrived. In fact, Sting was convinced Dobengal blackmailed his own cousin into not sending the photo.

Still, Sting was hopeful that today's mail would bring promise. In the mean time, he was listening to Spit Fire's story about winning a fire-burping contest held in some village on the border.

Yukino waved the mail runner goodbye before she turned around and made her way to the bar, perusing the letters for the guild. "Requests, jobs, bill—oh!" Sting's head shot up, but Yukino was looking at a newspaper that she held in one hand while the other set the letters down. "Oh, no," she murmured, covering her mouth with her free hand.

"Is something wrong, Yukino?" Rufus leaned forward in his seat as Yukino set the paper down, his face contorting into a concerned expression. "I see…the province of Eudicot is in quite the uproar."

"When is it not?" Somebody in the guild yelled in response.

"I seem to recall a time when it was quite prosperous and—" At this point, Sting rushed over to sift through the envelopes on the bar counter. Bill, bill, job, bill, Sorcerer Magazine, and—

"Yes!" Sting crowed, jumping into the air without a care in the world. As soon as he landed, Sting read over the name of the sender.

**_Ansen Osorezan_**  
**_Lamia Scale Guild_**

The rest of the address could go to hell now that Ansen had finally delivered! "Lector! We got it!" he yelled, waving the envelope like a victory banner.

"Wait for me, Sting-kun!" Lector beamed, flying away from where he had been enjoying his lunch with Rogue and Frosch.

As much as Sting wanted to share the moment with Lector, the young guild master also wanted to settle the mystery that was the ninja's face. Sting tore the envelope open eagerly, pulling out a photo with a sticky note on top.

_Sting,_

_Here's a family photo from a few years_  
_ before Dobenii joined Saber Tooth!  
He __didn't really change much!_  
_Also, Fio still hates Rufus' guts!_

_—Ansen_

Before Sting lifted the sticky note, somebody behind him yelled, "Sting, duck!" Sting turned around only to see a fireball headed right for his face. The Dragon Slayer ducked out of the way, feeling the heat of the flame rush over his head.

Sting raised his head just as Lector landed on his shoulder. Once the shock wore off, the guild master whirled around and yelled, "Spit Fire!"

"Sorry, master!" A black-haired teen with goggles over his eyes called back. "Orga didn't believe me about the fire-burping contest!"

"Sting-kun, the photo!" At Lector's cry, Sting looked at the photo to see a smoking hole in the note.

Sting's heart fell as he registered the sight. "_No_…" he breathed. "No, no, no!" Sting immediately tore off the sticky note, praying that the picture was still intact.

Going by the number of pairs of feet, it was a picture of a family of six. But two of the people photographed had been scorched by the fireball. In the center was an elderly pair: a bald man in a dark green kimono and shawl and an old lady dressed in a purple kimono, her head marred by charred paper. Directly behind the old man, a black-haired woman in an elaborate red and gold kimono stood with a dark brown-haired preteen grinning widely at her right side. If anyone had stood beside the woman, the fireball torched them out with a hole in their place.

The final person in the photo was a light brown-haired youth standing next to the charred hole. Sting knew at once that the teenager was Dobengal. It wasn't the hair color that gave him away, nor the black clothes.

**No.**

It was the _freaking charred hole that took out the lower half of his face and his neck_, making him look like the ninja he grew up to be!

"Sting-kun…?"

Sting's hands shook uncontrollably as he held the ruined photo. How many days had he waited for this? How long had Sting waited for photographic evidence that the ninja had a face under that stupid mask?

And now it was gone…

Sting whirled around furiously. "This is why you got banned from that fire contest!" he screamed at Spit Fire, waving the ruined photo in the air.

"I got banned because they were jealous cowards!" Spit Fire defended.

"That's because you burned their plaza!"

"Like I said: cowards!"


End file.
